Making a DIY Bar Cart on a Budget

Our place is full of bottles and glasses between house warming gifts and general glassware, and I was sick of them being randomly throughout our kitchen. We happened to have this simple espresso cabinet that we no longer needed in our bathroom, so we’re repurposing it as our DIY bar cart. The cabinet is a simple wooden, self-assembled, multi-shelf espresso cabinet from Target (ours is out of stock, tagged a similar, nicer one) that gets the job done and saves our wallets while we have bigger projects to tackle.

The DIY Bar Cart You Already Own

The best way to stick to a budget is to not spend any money. Earth shattering advice, right? Here’s what I found around the condo to decorate our bar cart liquor cabinet.

Wine Bottles

These wine bottles were previously enjoyed and have an aesthetic I like, so I washed them out to sit on the bar cart. We just picked a couple simpler ones with nice coloring and design for our decor.

Mirror Tray

This gold-framed mirror tray is from my grandma’s giveaway pile so I was happy to find a use for it. I eventually decided to spray it silver, check it out in this blog post here!

Wine Glasses

There two smaller glasses were one-offs that didn’t go with a larger set, making them easy to use as decor.

Custom Decorative Pieces

The wooden sign was a gift for Kevin from my mom. He likes to ask if she has any ‘cold beverages’ whenever we go home. My mom thinks he’s just a riot (because who asks for a ‘cold beverage’ like that??) so she had it made on Etsy and it’s perfect for our bar cart area.

Blackhawks Light Bottle

This repurposed Maker’s Mark bottle was a gift from Kevin’s mom. How our moms inadvertently gift us the perfect items for me to decorate with I’ll never know, I’m just glad they do. We also light this lamp up up on game days for good luck!

Miscellaneous Trinkets

The champagne jelly beans and candle holder are both ‘just because’ gifts from my mom over time. If you look around the house you can surely find some things like this to dress up your DIY bar cart. They don’t even have to be wine or liquor related, just look nice and fit your aesthetic.

Reasons to Make a DIY Bar Cart

First apartments, college dorms and temporary living spaces are the perfect spaces in which to create a budget bar cart. Whether it’s just you or your roomie(s) too, don’t underestimate the power of a coat of paint and some secondhand decor!

Great Holiday Decor

Decorating this space for the holidays is easy and fun! My Dollar Spot jingle bells added the perfect amount of holiday cheer on my bar cart. Dig through mom’s holiday decorations to see if there’s anything she’s willing to part with, or simply pick up my go-to twinkle lights with automatic timer.

Nothing spreads cheer quite as quickly (literally) as mirrors and bright lights!

An Inexpensive Placeholder

Until we have a little more space or find a more traditional bar cart, this cabinet and mirror tray duo is serving us great. The cabinet fits this space perfectly. Without something there it would be too empty but anything bigger would look crowded. It’s the first area you see when you walk into the main living area so it’s important that it doesn’t look empty.

Don’t let a tight budget keep you from creating a new vibe for your home. When I looked back, this whole setup ended up costing me $0 because I already owned every single item!

DIY Bar Cart Source List

Cabinet: repurposed from bathroom, was otherwise getting thrown out (tagged a similar one)
Wine glasses: had at home
Wine bottles: empty ones we already drank
Wood sign and candle holder: Both gifts from either Etsy or gift shops
Holiday lights: Secret Santa gift (check your holiday bins or grab these twinkle lights for $6)
Mirror tray: Family heirloom, found in a donation pile

Hopefully I’ve inspired you to create a DIY bar cart of your own with hidden gems laying around the house. It doesn’t need to be perfect or Pinterest worthy, just functional and indicative that there’s some delicious cocktails within.

More DIY and Decor

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